Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a method for improving wound closures during endoscopic surgery after polyp removal and biopsy samples are taken. More specifically, this disclosure is directed to applying a quantity of resin ferrate or other hemostatic substances in either powder, solid, liquid or gel form onto an open wound, followed by the application of pressure. The methods are implemented preferably using existing endoscopic equipment; however, modifications to existing endoscopic insertion tubes and adaptive devices are also within the scope of this invention. The wound may be located in the alimentary tract or other serosal mucosa, accessed for endoscopic treatment through a natural orifice of the body.
Description of Related Art
Endoscopy is the medical science of looking inside or typically within the body for medical reasons using an endoscope. An endoscope is an instrument used to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike most other medical imaging devices, endoscopes are inserted directly into the organ.
An endoscope typically includes a rigid or flexible tube, a light delivery system to illuminate the organ. The light source is typically being positioned outside the body, the light being directed typically by an optical fiber system to illuminate the interior organ. The endoscope also includes a lens system for transmitting the image from the objective lens to the viewer, and an eyepiece. Additional channels are provided to allow entry of medical instruments and manipulators.
A healthcare provider may use an endoscope for any of a plurality of purposes, including investigation of symptoms such as symptoms in the digestive system including nausea, vomiting, abnormal pain, difficulty swallowing, and gastrointestinal bleeding. The endoscope may also be used to confirm a diagnosis, most commonly by performing a biopsy, to check for conditions such as anemia, bleeding, inflammation, and cancers of the digestive system. Treatment may also be administered by an endoscope such as cauterization of a bleeding vessel, the widening of a narrow esophagus, cutting off of a polyp or removing a foreign object within the organ.
One particularly useful application of the endoscope is the removal of polyps and other growths within the interior walls of the organ under examination. However, the techniques for removing the polyp include typically either a cutting device or a heated loop device, both of which leave a wound at the base of the polyp which typically bleeds profusely. To arrest the blood flow from the incision, surgical clamps are the most preferable means of arresting that blood flow. A plurality of these small surgical clamps is attached around and across the wound so as to effect a wound closure. However, these clamps are difficult to apply, are small and unable to approximate wide wounds, and do not often effect a complete wound closure leaving some bleeding. Moreover, the clamps must be left in place for a time sufficient to arrest bleeding, after which they are eventually eliminated by normal bowel movement in the colon or intestine.
Another means for arresting blood flow from a wound of this nature is to simply spray a powder starch-like material onto the wound until it is sufficiently covered to absorb the blood flow and cause the cessation of blood flow from that wound. However, due to a lack of containment of this powder, a large quantity of this material is required to effect bleeding cessation, leaving a substantially greater amount of material than typically needed if applied directly to the wound from an exposed wound.
The present invention provides a method of wound closure after a polyp or removal during endoscopic surgery and the like. This method is directed to applying a quantity of a hemostatic substance in either powder, solid, liquid, or gel form onto the open wound followed by the application of pressure. Various adaptive devices are provided to accomplish both the deployment of the hemostatic substance onto the wound and the application of pressure thereagainst to effect complete hemostasis.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.